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Coredump posted:What car is it? A common tactic is drill thru the firewall where the clutch master cylinder would have been if your car is an automatic but also came in a manual transmission model too. It's a 2014 Nissan Maxima. Supposedly there is a pre-made hole behind the glove box somewhere so that's where I am checking first. Coredump posted:No wire nuts please in car audio. Crimp connectors should work for the connections behind the radio. Power wires for amp shouldn’t need any sort of wire nut connection as the power wire goes from battery thru a fuse holder to the amp. Well the issue is the fact I have to somehow join 2 individual power lines (amp & head unit) to 1 wire going to the positive terminal of the battery. Below picture is the battery wire for the head unit, I have no idea what that connector is called. The corresponding wire on the amp is a pre-stripped yellow, and the 17 ft. chunk of red 12 ga. wire has just a ragged cut end I will have to strip. The kit the red wire came in did include two 12-10 butt splices. 
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Oct 29, 2020 21:31
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Solutions in rough order of desirability:
Don't use wire nuts.
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Oct 29, 2020 22:16
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MREBoy posted:It's a 2014 Nissan Maxima. Supposedly there is a pre-made hole behind the glove box somewhere so that's where I am checking first. That's a bullet connector, you can get a matching terminal in that size without much effort. You can feed two wires in to a butt connector, do that. Do not use wire nuts, they'll work loose in a vehicle.
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Oct 29, 2020 22:16
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MREBoy posted:It's a 2014 Nissan Maxima. Supposedly there is a pre-made hole behind the glove box somewhere so that's where I am checking first. Are you installing an amp and a head unit in your car? Typically an amp has a power wire that goes to battery. Then what they call a remote wire that goes to the blue or blue with white stripe wire on the back of the radio harness. The radio's battery wire should pick up from the vehicle's wiring harness. Usually people use Metra or Scosche wiring harness adapters to make their lives easier as you should avoid cutting any of your vehicles factory wiring.
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Oct 30, 2020 03:34
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Coredump posted:Are you installing an amp and a head unit in your car? Typically an amp has a power wire that goes to battery. Then what they call a remote wire that goes to the blue or blue with white stripe wire on the back of the radio harness. The radio's battery wire should pick up from the vehicle's wiring harness. Usually people use Metra or Scosche wiring harness adapters to make their lives easier as you should avoid cutting any of your vehicles factory wiring. Yes, I have an Alpine ILX-W650 and the matching KTA-450 amp sitting on my dining room table right now. I think what I'm doing wrong is that I somehow got it into my head that both yellow wires marked BATTERY for these 2 separate pieces of equipment have to be wired/connected to the 12 ga. wire that I have to run to the + terminal on the battery, but this is actually incorrect. Since my friend bought this stuff from Crutchfield it came with a large assortment of install related stuff including a Metra 70-7552 Receiver Wiring Harness. If I'm now understanding right the amp alone will get power direct from the battery and I actually hook up the head unit power wire to the yellow 12v wire on the Metra adapter. After that the blue/white wires present on each device will be connected together, ignoring the blue/white on the adapter. Adapter manual https://pdf.crutchfieldonline.com/Manuals/120/120707552.PDF
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Oct 30, 2020 04:23
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MREBoy posted:Yes, I have an Alpine ILX-W650 and the matching KTA-450 amp sitting on my dining room table right now. I think what I'm doing wrong is that I somehow got it into my head that both yellow wires marked BATTERY for these 2 separate pieces of equipment have to be wired/connected to the 12 ga. wire that I have to run to the + terminal on the battery, but this is actually incorrect. Since my friend bought this stuff from Crutchfield it came with a large assortment of install related stuff including a Metra 70-7552 Receiver Wiring Harness. If I'm now understanding right the amp alone will get power direct from the battery and I actually hook up the head unit power wire to the yellow 12v wire on the Metra adapter. After that the blue/white wires present on each device will be connected together, ignoring the blue/white on the adapter. Oh, yeah. Trying to run amp power off of that would cause some really entertaining results. It should have direct, fused power to battery (in my setup, I fuse 6 inches or so from the battery on the main amp power line, then I fuse it at the distribution block where it splits it for my main speaker amp and my powered subwoofer), and then pre-outs and remote-turn on from the head unit.
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Oct 30, 2020 17:58
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MREBoy posted:Any suggestions as to how to get through the firewall in a reasonable fashion ? Apparently this car may have an already made opening somewhere behind or above the glove box that goes into the engine compartment, so I will be removing the box first off & poking around when I actually get the install started. I even got a reel of fishing tape to make this a bit easier. If I can't get the wire through I'm gonna abort & try to figure something out. Speaking of power I was checking the wires that come with the amp and the head unit and they each have their own individual 12 ga. looking size power lines. Is twisting together all three & then using the biggest wire nut I can find going to be ok ? I don't have or even really know how to use a soldering iron. Along those lines I got a box of butt splices & a crimper because I'm not inclined to play games with black tape. I try to look for an existing grommet that is either unused, or has room for another wire. Failing that, the aforementioned clutch location is often handy, but you will need a grommet. If you use a wire nut in anything other than a very temporary install, I will hunt you down and slap you. I prefer soldering, but a properly done crimp connection is fine. MREBoy posted:It's a 2014 Nissan Maxima. Supposedly there is a pre-made hole behind the glove box somewhere so that's where I am checking first. Your car will have a 12V battery connection for the head unit in the factory radio plug. Use that for the head - it only needs to support a few amps, maybe. Run the amp 12V to the battery. MREBoy posted:Yes, I have an Alpine ILX-W650 and the matching KTA-450 amp sitting on my dining room table right now. I think what I'm doing wrong is that I somehow got it into my head that both yellow wires marked BATTERY for these 2 separate pieces of equipment have to be wired/connected to the 12 ga. wire that I have to run to the + terminal on the battery, but this is actually incorrect. Since my friend bought this stuff from Crutchfield it came with a large assortment of install related stuff including a Metra 70-7552 Receiver Wiring Harness. If I'm now understanding right the amp alone will get power direct from the battery and I actually hook up the head unit power wire to the yellow 12v wire on the Metra adapter. After that the blue/white wires present on each device will be connected together, ignoring the blue/white on the adapter. You've got it right, however: does the car have a power antenna, or a "powered" antenna (a short, amplified, antenna)? If so, then the blue/white will also need to go to the adapter to extend the mast or power the antenna amp, as needed.
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Oct 30, 2020 18:13
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Well things are in progress with putting all this crap in my friends car. The one hint I found online as to where there was a natural hole in the firewall behind the glove box turned out to be 100% accurate. There was a plastic cap in the hole so I popped the cap out & punched a small hole through it so the power wire will be immobile & not chafing on a metal edge. Am taking pics so I will probably post either a YAY! or gently caress! montage later today. Just want to say thanks  for the informative replies. Now I'm off to do a three-way with wire harnesses  .
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Oct 31, 2020 16:52
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Not dead, for some asinine reason the air conditioner controller or some other important bit is attached to the OEM radio. Woo!
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Nov 2, 2020 16:35
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So my S10 came with a super lovely wiring job for audio and an Alpine BBX T600 amp. I want to sell this as I'm not interested in using it. It should work, but I'd like to test it before putting it up for sale. I've stripped out the wiring from the car (parasitic drain etc), so I can't put it back to test. I do have home speakers that I can plug it into. I was thinking I could use the car battery to power it and see if it works, but what do I do with the ground wire?
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Nov 9, 2020 10:48
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Ground it to the chassis? That's what I did when I dealt with amps in the 90s. Also double check specs on the amp vs your speakers, I'd guess the amp wants a 4ohm load and your speakers are 8ohm. Probably fine for the speakers but I suspect it will barely generate any load on the amp.
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Nov 9, 2020 13:35
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falz posted:Ground it to the chassis? That's what I did when I dealt with amps in the 90s. Thanks. I decided that I don't have the time or interest to mess with this. There is something I deeply hate about car audio, and it's not really the subject itself, but how it's implemented by people. Thinking about messing with this just reminds me of how pissed off I got when I saw the wiring the PO had made. I just put it up for sale as is for cheaper instead.
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Nov 9, 2020 16:49
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MREBoy posted:Not dead, for some asinine reason the air conditioner controller or some other important bit is attached to the OEM radio. Woo! They like to consolidate functions like that, usually for a higher-spec radio that also has controls for other systems. It's infuriating in a car.
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Nov 12, 2020 22:58
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Don Dongington posted:Update: I grabbed a second hand 400w/4ohm Pioneer and it basically sounds the same so it's either the box leaking or being a weak POS; the amp; or the fact that the box is 1cu ft and sealed and the amp just not having enough watts to drive those subs in an undersized sealed box. FYI if anyone cares, it was the cheap parts store box. I took a good look inside today and noticed that what little caulk they had run along the inside joins had started to separate. Probably due to me shoving a 500W Type R in there and actually running it at rated wattage, which is not what these are really intended for. I grabbed a tube of silicone and went to town on the inside seams, the corners, the terminal cup and then made a Blu-tac gasket for the sub and lo and behold, no more distortion. I left the 4 ohm svc pioneer in there for now, because the Alpine will almost certainly blow the thing apart again. I'll get a proper box built for it during the Christmas break.
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Nov 15, 2020 16:10
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Nice. Always a good day when it’s the simple solution.
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Nov 16, 2020 02:31
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Don Dongington posted:FYI if anyone cares, it was the cheap parts store box. I took a good look inside today and noticed that what little caulk they had run along the inside joins had started to separate. Probably due to me shoving a 500W Type R in there and actually running it at rated wattage, which is not what these are really intended for. Parts Express has flat pack sub boxes meant for home theaters but can be used for car audio if the shape is right for you. They look to be good quality with the bracing they have on the inside. True story.
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Nov 16, 2020 02:40
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Coredump posted:Parts Express has flat pack sub boxes meant for home theaters but can be used for car audio if the shape is right for you. They look to be good quality with the bracing they have on the inside. True story. Unfortunately by the time I paid for shipping to Australia, I could pay one of the local shops to build it for me. But I would suck it up and beg the wife for a couple afternoons in the workshop before I did that.
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Nov 16, 2020 06:42
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Hey, thread, I'm looking to put a new head unit in my 06 CRV and wanted to see if anyone in here had any words of warning about the particular unit/equipment I'm considering. I checked out a few local car audio places and I think I've settled on the following: Head unit: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-2f9Ceo9MCg9/p_105KWM75BT/JVC-KW-M75BT.html Steering wheel control unit: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_541SWICP2/PAC-SWI-CP2-Steering-Wheel-Control-Adapter.html For these two things, plus a trim kit, wiring harness, and "50¢ installation", they quoted me at $637 (that's including $51 worth of taxes, fwiw). Using the info on the quote they gave me, I know I can find all the equipment cheaper, but I think I'm just going to shell out the extra cash and have them do it. I've never done any car audio stuff, although I've had to re-wire/troubleshoot/etc. a few motorcycles so I feel like I COULD handle this if I really needed to. I'm just not sure if spending a Saturday afternoon trying to get it all done is worth saving ~$150 or so bucks. Is there any particular reason I should avoid the equipment listed above? Is taking the lazy way out and paying someone else to handle it for me worth the extra cost?
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Jan 20, 2021 23:23
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Car stereos are pretty easy to install, especially if you look at something like the pre-wired adapter harnesses on Crutchfield (I think $25 on top of the harness adapter, possibly cheaper if you buy everything from them - they connect the adapter so it's basically plug and play for your car). Probably bigger factor, a LOT of "professional" installs of audio are really, really bad - not that it's impossible to find someone to do it right, but a lot of people seem to have really bad experiences with letting other people install the stuff. As to whether it's worth it - how much is your time worth? You're probably not going to do it in an hour if you've never done it before, almost anyone with the slightest amount of technical know-how can do it in less than a weekend, and most people with some technical know-how can probably do it in an afternoon. The one other thing I'd throw out there: Resistive touchscreens suck rear end. Look for a headunit with capacitive instead. The Pioneer MVH-1400NEX is the one I've got, though I don't think it does Android Auto. There are others.
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Jan 20, 2021 23:34
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Oh, poo poo, I totally thought that had a capacitive screen. Must have mixed up models. Okay, so that basically rules that unit out. My at-a-glance impression was that the head unit itself wouldn't be too difficult to do myself, but the steering wheel control unit seems more complicated.
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Jan 20, 2021 23:40
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Judging by the manufacturer's website, there's only actually four wires you have to connect, and they appear to identify the connector. That's not horrible unless the connector is inside the heater core or something stupid like that (doubtful). https://pac-audio.com/swi-guide-center/controlpro-guide/ I selected the vehicle model and picked a JVC, but if you put in your options it culminates in a "wiring diagram".
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Jan 20, 2021 23:59
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https://jalopnik.com/pioneers-new-headunit-could-bring-modern-tech-to-old-ca-1846068828quote:The Pioneer NEX is a single-DIN unit that will come with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, along with a few other things such Amazon Alexa, Sirius XM and the like. So what? Plenty of head units come with these feature, even though they can’t all interface with CarPlay and Android Auto wirelessly, as you can with the NEX. And crucially for me, it’s Hi-Res Audio certified. https://twitter.com/PioneerUSA/status/1349466797582426113 Seems pretty cool for those who only have single din openings.
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Jan 21, 2021 00:07
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Alright, so I'm slowly starting to think I might gently caress around and try to do this myself. But I still gotta find a good head unit. Any goon approved models? Basically just want something double din w/ a capacitive screen and android auto (wired is fine) around $300-400. I'll probably circle back and add a backup camera down the line, but I figure anything that checks off the previous boxes can handle that
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Jan 21, 2021 00:10
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For steering wheel controls - I attempted to install the PAC SWI-RC on my WJ Grand Cherokee, couldn't get it to work reliably. On that it also required splicing into the wire coming straight out of the clockspring to get the steering wheel control input. I switched over to a Metra ASWC-1 and was much happier. It will read CAN bus data and according to this instruction sheet that came up on Metra's site for an '06 CR-V, it can be wired using only the factory radio plug: https://metradealer.com/files/aswc/ASWC-1_INST_02.pdf
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Jan 21, 2021 00:11
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Don Dongington posted:Unfortunately by the time I paid for shipping to Australia, I could pay one of the local shops to build it for me. But I would suck it up and beg the wife for a couple afternoons in the workshop before I did that. Hey kids I did the thing  Pretty much solved my subwoofer woes. Cribbed a design from the internet with window braces and all that malarkey, and then used the specs from the Type R manual to work out a nice compromise between boot space and frequency. Seems to be tuned to about 35hz which is what I was going for. Much more efficient, although I used enough screws that it should be good for north of 1000W, so if I see a more powerful amp going for cheap, I'll jump. Finish is that Duratex paint. It's really easy to use, just make sure if you used any filler or bondo to prime it with a couple coats of rustoleum, which you would be using to black out the port and the subwoofer mounting area anyway  Gonna try it on a guitar cab next.
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Jan 26, 2021 11:33
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Hey goons, I recently put an aftermarket head unit (Sony AXAV1000) in my 04 Forester. However the car has a small factory sub that is driven by the factory head unit, and with no output to it, it doesn’t work right now. I’m pretty sure it’s a 2 ohm impedance and 18 watts. So I need a simple little single channel amp to power the sub. Does anybody have recommendations for such a thing? Luckily the head unit has a double DIN touch screen but is actually only single DIN in height, so I can mount the sub right underneath the new head unit if it’s small enough.
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Jan 28, 2021 14:58
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Look into motorcycle audio amps. I see a bunch like this on eBay for around the same price: https://ebay.us/DWfRBG Anything else seems to be starting over $100, in which case you’d probably want to look into the OEM underseat sub, or some other aftermarket powered sub which will hook up easier to your head unit and sound better than the tiny hatch one.
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Jan 29, 2021 03:15
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Can a TPA3116 run at 2ohms? Even the cheapest ones of those can manage 18w at 14V and you can pick one up for like $15 on AliExpress.
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Jan 29, 2021 14:23
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DrChu posted:Look into motorcycle audio amps. I see a bunch like this on eBay for around the same price: https://ebay.us/DWfRBG Thanks, that’s exactly what I am looking for. I’m pretty happy with how it sounds now so just making the fifth speaker work with minimal investment would be great.
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Jan 29, 2021 14:36
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Don Dongington posted:Can a TPA3116 run at 2ohms? Even the cheapest ones of those can manage 18w at 14V and you can pick one up for like $15 on AliExpress. Actually, even better. Cheap enough to try and throw into a bin for other stuff if it doesn’t work. It looks like it can be made to work with as low as a 1.6 ohm impedance if the output filtering is L=10 uH and C=1uF. https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/slos708g/slos708g.pdf?ts=1611926175560 I’ll get a couple of the boards on PartsExpress for ten bux each and replace/add to the capacitors to get the filtering I want. Edit: since I’m running just a single 2 ohm speaker, can I just wire the output from my head unit to both input channels, and drive the speaker with both outputs? i own every Bionicle fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Jan 29, 2021 |
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Jan 29, 2021 15:15
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Williston Audio has a cringey gimmick on Youtube, but some seriously quality reviews. They have done several tiny amp reviews with bench testing, here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAe7JuPoXM And one that's a little bigger, but performs much better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB5hEe3IP70 meatpimp fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jan 29, 2021 |
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Jan 29, 2021 18:33
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i own every Bionicle posted:Actually, even better. Cheap enough to try and throw into a bin for other stuff if it doesn’t work. It looks like it can be made to work with as low as a 1.6 ohm impedance if the output filtering is L=10 uH and C=1uF. If you bridge the channels then it will halve the impedance load on the amp if I recall, but also there is no benefit to doing so as most of these amps if not all of them can manage 30-50w per channel into 2ohms. Most people are using them to drive 8ohm bookshelf speakers so they wouldn't be getting anywhere near the advertised power, but you should be sweet. You can also get mono versions, but they're usually just 2 channel amps bridged on the board and advertised as 100w. You would need to make sure they're safe to run at 2ohm, and tbh it would be cheaper and easier just to run half a stereo amp. It won't hurt one of these.
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Jan 30, 2021 00:51
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Don Dongington posted:If you bridge the channels then it will halve the impedance load on the amp if I recall, but also there is no benefit to doing so as most of these amps if not all of them can manage 30-50w per channel into 2ohms. Most people are using them to drive 8ohm bookshelf speakers so they wouldn't be getting anywhere near the advertised power, but you should be sweet. Thank you. Just ordered a pair of them from the ‘zon. I’ll run a single channel from one of them.
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Jan 30, 2021 00:58
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What do headunits generally expect to receive on the Mute and Dimmer wires? (It’s a Pioneer MVH-1400NEX if it matters) I’m swapping headunits and the dimmer wire has never worked (currently wired to the matching wire on the Metra harness) and I’m thinking if it just looks for 12V there, I can wire up a switch to control it. Edit: If random forum posts are to be trusted, it looks like the dimmer wire controls brightness based on voltage between 0-12v. So hooking up 12v would probably key full brightness, 0v actually seems like it would do nothing (otherwise not hooking it up would make it dim all the time?), and a potentiometer may be in order. I don’t know that I care as much about the mute, but the same thought has occurred to me. (The car doesn’t have any steering wheel controls or anything like that.) Krakkles fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Feb 5, 2021 |
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Feb 5, 2021 17:28
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I think the dimmer is supposed to be hooked to the low beam circuit, at least for pre-canbus vehicles . I would think that when it sees 12v it will dim the display, on the assumption that you only use headlights when its dark out. I would probably also think its dim off or on based on some voltage cutoff (probably in the 1-2 volt range), and not a gradual dim. I might be talking out my rear end here. Low beams are mandatory at all times in my country so I have never used the dimer function. Humbug fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Feb 5, 2021 |
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Feb 5, 2021 21:09
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Humbug posted:I might be talking out my rear end here. Low beams are mandatory at all times in my country so I have never used the dimer function.
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Feb 5, 2021 21:38
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It depends greatly on the head unit in question. The cheap way is to expect 12V from the parking light circuit. +12V on that wire = dim the radio lighting. That would be the solid orange wire. *Usually*, a head expecting variable lighting, ala the dash light circuit, there is an orange-with-white-stripe wire. I don't recall if that's intended to get variable voltage, or hooked to a variable ground, though - it's been a while since I encountered one. Most older cars varied the ground via the dash light dimmer, but the switch to LEDs means most newer cars do it via PWM, so that method doesn't work. Basically, I'm saying consult the documentation of your particular radio. I'm actually annoyed at the Pioneer in my Crown Vic about this. It has a single-level dimmer function, accessed through the menus, or by holding a particular button, but they didn't put a dimmer wire on the plug. No idea why the did that, since the function is there...
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Feb 5, 2021 22:57
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Oh, that's good info. So, I think I have to devise something on my own - the vehicle side harness has a orange wire marked illumination / dash light, the headunit has an orange / white wire which specifies in the install manual that it should be connected to the "lighting switch terminal" - no details about V+/ground/anything else. Even better, the install manual for the last car this headunit was in said you definitely connect the orange wire, and it appears that I connected it to the orange/white - which would explain why this didn't work. At least it didn't fry anything. If I was going to attempt to step down the voltage manually, is a potentiometer like this viable? I know it shouldn't be PWM, beyond that, I don't feel knowledgeable about ohms and the like.
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Feb 5, 2021 23:38
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What make/model head unit? The info on what input is expected has to be somewhere. If not in the text, in the schematic. If it's not, there's a technical writer that need to be flogged.
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Feb 6, 2021 00:23
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Pioneer MVH-1400NEX, install manual here: https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Car/MVH-1400NEX_InstallationManual051718.pdf Completely open to being wrong, but I don't see it. Edit: And it's going into a 2000 Jeep Cherokee, just to not leave anything out. Harness for this one (like the vehicle it was in before) has orange but not orange/white. Krakkles fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Feb 6, 2021 |
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Feb 6, 2021 00:26
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